Fbederick grinnell



(ModeL) vP. GRINNELL.

AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTI'NGUISHER.

No. 248,830. Patented Oct. 25,1881.-

Fig.1 Fig. 2.

m f iiiif WITNESSES! |NVENTORI $6M I $910M wwza (2 Q 7 dun 0A at M UNTTE STATES aTnNT Trice.

FREDERICK GRINNELL, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

AUTOMATIC FIRE-EXTINGUISHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 248,830, dated October 25, 1881.

Application filed June 17, 1881. (ModeL) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,FREDER10K GRINNELL, of the city and county of Providence, and State oflthode Island, haveim'ented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Fire Extinguishers; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,-

reference beinghad to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention has reference to an improvement in automatic fire-extinguishers in which the water is prevented from escaping by means of avalve placed between the water-suppl y and the distributor; and itconsistsin placingsnch avalve so that the pressure of the water will keep the valve to its seat, and in opening such valve by means of a spring against the pressure of the water when released by the action of heat on a fusible solder, as will be more fully set forth hereinafter.

Figurelisaview of one form of my improved automatic fire-extinguisher. Fig. 2 is a seetional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of anotherform of myimproved automatic fire-extinguisher.

In the drawings, a is the water-inlet, I), the valve-chamber; c, the discharge-openin g; d, the valve, held to its seat by the internal pressure ofthe water. 0 is a light spring,which holds the valve to its seat before the device is secured to the system of pipes, or when thereis no pressure in the pipes. fis a yoke or frame extending beyond the case I), and in the same the deflector g and stem h are held against the pressure of the strong spiral spring 6, resting with one end against the frame and with the other end against the stop k.

The spiral spring is compressed, and the stem h is secured by a solder fusible at a low temperature.

When, now, a fire breaks out and the solder is melted, the stem h is released, the deflector g and stem h are thrown with a blow against the projecting valve-stem m, forcing the valve inward against the pressure of the water, and discharging the water below the deflector g or through holes made in the deflector.

Two great advantages are gained by this construction: First, the valve is free to seat itself, and is held by the direct internal pressure of the water in the system; and, second, the fusible material which is to be melted by heat is away from the water, extending beyond the distributer, and can therefore be made very sensitive to heat.

In thcdevice shown in Fig. 3 the valve-stem itself is surrounded by the coiled spring, the valve-disk being sufficiently loose so as to seat itself. The stem is secured at l to the frame, and as soon as the solder is softened by the heat the compressed spring 2' will open the valve against the internal pressure, and the fluid will be discharged through any form of distributer that may be placed on the dischargeopening 0. As the spring in Figs. 1 and 2 acts with a blow or stored-up force, so may a weight be used suspended above the valve and secured by an easily-fusible solder, so that when the solder melts the weight will be released, and, falling, will strike the end m of the valve-stem and open the valve.

A lever such as is used on safetyvalves may have a weight secured at the long end supported on some fixture by a material easily affected by heat, so that when the heat releases the weight the fall of the weight will open the valve and the force of the weight will be multiplied by the lever.

The power of the machine may also be in creased by arranging the spring to act on a lever provided with a cam which acts on the valve-stem. All such substitutions for the direct-actin g spring maybe used, and require no particular description, as such mechanical de vices are well understood by those versed in the arts.

Having thus described myinventiou, Iclaim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In an automatic fire-extinguisher, a valve held to its seat by internal fluid-pressure, and constructed to be opened against the internal pressure in the pipes by a device constructed to be liberated by the action of heat on a material fusible at a low temperature, as described.

2. The combination, with the "alve d, held to its seat by internal fluid-pressure, of the stem h, secured by a fusible solder, and the spring i, constructed to open the valve when released by the action of heat, as described.

3. The combination, with the valve-case b, In witness whereof I have hereunto set my provided with an inlet and outlet, of the valve hand.

d, the frameff, the stem h, secured by a ma- Y teriallfusible at a low temperature, and the FLMEDERIOK GRIBNELL' 5 spring 2', all constructed to open the valve au- \Vitnesses:

tomaticallyin case of a fire and discharge the J. A. MILLER, Jr.,

extinguishing-fluid, as described. WILLIAM L. 0001. 

